In the wake of the devastating tornado in Oklahoma, a number of people have drawn attention to John Piper’s tweet of Job 1:19. Far from this verse indicating the notion that God is judging Oklahoma (which is what some have come to expect to hear from spokespeople for conservative Christian viewpoints), in context the verse [Read More...]

Bob Cargill shared the above image of a Facebook status. And David Hayward did a good job with today’s cartoon, getting at the seeming correspondence between tragedy and increased theological nonsense and inanity (I prefer not to use his term, but some of the things people spout at times like these are so offensive that I [Read More...]

Today at 10 am is the funeral for “Mack” Brady, son of well-known scholar and biblioblogger Christian Brady. Bob Cargill and Steve Caruso have already shared tributes, as well as information on the funeral arrangements and a scholarship fund that has been set up in Mack’s memory. Joel Watts suggested that we have a period [Read More...]

I have been struck by the language some atheist bloggers I read have used in recent days, in reference to how they felt about President Obama’s speech/sermon in Newtown. Alienation. As a progressive Christian, and as someone who has studied Biblical studies, theology, and philosophy of religion, I often feel something that could be described [Read More...]

In the wake of tragedy, we may view things differently. While some at church this morning spouted offensive platitudes (despite the pastor’s explicit mention of the pain they cause and their inappropriateness), I found myself thinking about the text of the sermon, about the massacre of the innocents in Matthew 2. In the story, it [Read More...]

Quite a number of people are discussing t-shirts like this one (or the wider use of the sentiment expressed on it) in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy: I am glad that fundamentalists are finally being a bit more honest about what they mean by “God.” They clearly do not mean an omnipresent [Read More...]

Rev. Jeremy Smith posted some thoughts in response to those who claim that God being “uninvited” from schools has something to do with the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Randal Rauser did the same. I would go even further than they do, even further than I did in my previous post on the topic. The shooting [Read More...]

I am grateful to Patheos for the opportunity to participate in the book club about Mary C. Neal’s book To Heaven and Back: A Doctor’s Extraordinary Account of Her Death, Heaven, Angels, and Life Again: A True Story. This is not a scholarly or academic book, but a personal account by this medical doctor of [Read More...]

Remember not so long ago, when Rick Warren seemed to be linking the Aurora shooting to evolution, but later offered an explanation that that was not what he meant? Ken Ham and his organization Answers in Genesis apparently have no such qualms. Here’s what’s been added to their “Graffiti Alley,” as Hemant Mehta pointed out [Read More...]

I already posted today on Rick Warren's inaccurate as well as unhelpful tweet, blaming the tragic shooting in Aurora, Colorado on teaching students that they “are no different than animals,” which seems to be a lame jibe at evolution, even though it shows a failure to grasp what biology actually says. Warren is wrong about [Read More...]